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Web Design

The sole purpose of a digital marketing campaign, whether it be through SEO, PPC or social media marketing, is to generate targeted traffic to your website. But, generating this targeted traffic is only the beginning. Successful online businesses are those that are able to convert this traffic into actual paying customers. This is where effective web design becomes most important.

You have less than 20 seconds to make the right impression on your visitors (sometimes less). If consumers don’t like what they see, they will immediately hit the back button, and likely never return. A good layout, strategically placed images, a trustworthy contact form, and great content can mean the difference between a sale and a lost opportunity.

Our web design skills come not only from our experience in working with clients, but from operating many of our own eCommerce websites. We approach web design with a stringent design ethic, combined with the experience of a business owner. Our aim is not just to be visually pleasing and intuitive, but also to draw attention to where it is most likely to result in a conversion.

Your website will be powered by a platform called WordPress, which is a widely used and heavily customizable platform. We use this platform in order to keep upgrades and updates quick, simple, and low in cost. WordPress allows you to update the content on your site without any knowledge of web design; while, at the same time, presenting everything in a consistent format. Upgrades to the layout and appearance can be implemented without needing to reformat all of the existing content on the site. This means you will have the perfect blend of price, adaptability, and customization.

It is extremely important to focus on conversions and branding when considering a website design, but there is much more to be considered. The proper coding of structural elements such as page titles, headings, and tags is essential for high placement in the search results. Poorly coded websites are difficult for the search engine’s algorithms to interpret, and the search engines also use human quality raters to evaluate the usefulness of a site’s design and layout.

Important Web Design Considerations

While it would be impossible to explain all of the elements of good web design adequately here, the list below includes many of the factors we consider when designing a website:

Understanding Ad-Blindness – Most people who use the web have learned to ignore advertisements and anything that looks like an ad. This means that sometimes the user misses important site elements, because they resemble advertisements. As a web designer, it is important to understand what typical ad-formats look like, and it is equally important to avoid using them in the design. At the same time, a good designer needs to understand how to create important design elements that stand out without being perceived as an ad.

Meeting Expected Standards – While it’s important to be novel enough to stand out, users have also come to expect certain design elements to stay the same on almost any website they visit. When these conventions aren’t met, users get frustrated and confused. They expect certain navigational elements to be found in certain places. It’s important to meet those expectations, only breaking them in very deliberate and carefully planned situations.

Testing – Assuming that the current layout is best merely because it works isn’t the best road to optimization. Furthermore, having experience and intuition doesn’t mean that you always know what will work best. It’s generally a good idea to periodically test new design elements and use split testing to determine how the new design compares with the old. Sometimes it’s surprising what works best. It’s equally important to only test one change at a time.

Meeting the User’s Need – When you use SEO and PPC to target visitors who are searching for something specific, there are no excuses for not meeting their expectations. We make sure to design our pages and content so that the user is satisfied with the result, and doesn’t feel like they were manipulated into visiting an irrelevant page. This takes an understanding of what each searcher’s query is really about, and a willingness to do the research and work to meet their need.

Understanding What Design is About – Site design is not about being artistic, stroking our clients’ egos, trying to win awards, or using the latest technology. It is, above all else, about converting visitors into new business, whether that be sales, brand recognition, customer retention, or reputation. It is about setting goals and meeting them.

Understanding the Conversion Funnel – Users at varying stages of the buying cycle will visit your website. Some users will be looking specifically for the product or service you are selling, and your site only needs to convert them into buyers. Some users will come to your site because they need education on how a product or service like yours can actually solve a problem they have. An effective web site is designed to take the user down the funnel from curiosity to conversion.

We are ready to work together with you to design a layout and content strategy for your website that matches your business objectives.